Cybereagles

Ok, I never played club, I played street football and in school etc.

Had a club game today, played both halves, although came on and off.

1st Half run down.

First touch was good, controlled everything with the studs, played as a DM, tried to stay in position, but did not, I was constantly moving out of position and had difficulty reading other players' movements.

key passes I had were a bit under-hit, but most of them got through. Did a lot more work off the ball, covered a lot of distance, forced the opposition into errors.

Second half didn't start but came on later. A lot more disciplined this half, played as LM, I suppose roving between the centre of pitch and LW. Key moment in the beginning of the half was when I tried a deft control of the ball (a la Zidane), near the touchline...touch was not heavy, but did not take it away from the opposition. ball went over the line for their throw.

From the throw they ran down their right flank and scored. I am not sure if I would say that was my error, since the ball went dead...and it wasn't exactly a scoring position, they worked it.

Won the ball quite a number of times, managed some sideways passes a la Mikel. Once again the control was very good, no heavy touches. even controlled first time with the weak foot on the outside. Didn't try to beat my man, but would dummy and release. Worked hard, and the moment came. Ran with the ball in the centre and released it to a teammate who looped it over the keeper. Was happy with that Assist.

Late into the 2nd half, I was really getting into the game, but tried to do too much. Still not in my A game, lost the ball on the left flank twice? Once when we were trying to press for a goal. But managed to keep us alive as well, won a good header in the centre. Biggest question mark moment was in the centre of the pitch. I was LM/LW, but there was a massive hole in the CM, ball came flying into the midfield, about 5-7 metres from where I was, nobody picked it up, they ran with it and scored. That wasn't my position, but should perhaps have covered it. But in reality I couldn't.....fitness was hard, 1st competitive game ever, and at that moment I was picking my battles.

I did have some good forward passes as well, perhaps some were tight.....put a lot more weight on the passes in the second half and got a lot of touches in the middle of the park. Fortunately for me, they would back off me and let me settle on the ball, before I started advancing....huseless players.

To be honest, I would have liked to have played forward, but I wasn't fit enough to be making those runs. I did feel I could have struck the ball better than most on the pitch today, but I took zero shots on.

We lost the game 5-4. I do think I could have won the game for them, if I played better, but I did my best..I hadn't played with them before and was struggling for fitness.

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Bixente Lizarazu once described Spain’s football - which won them two European titles and a World Cup - as “love without the sex. It lacks a bit of spice”. News.com.au

I think I will try to play 5 aside or 7 aside first.

I was never a team player, so I don't understand positional play very well. I was known as an individually brilliant and explosive player in my day.

I will try to learn how to play with others first in a smaller setting, that should help me.

One South American gave me some pointers about staying in line, but I need more than that.

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Bixente Lizarazu once described Spain’s football - which won them two European titles and a World Cup - as “love without the sex. It lacks a bit of spice”. News.com.au

At your age, it doesn't matter as long as you are moving err... active.
Avoid injury because your body will deteriorate fast.
Keep moving and have fun.

About positional play and keeping in line, if you watch soccer games, why are these things so hard to understand?

Also, to excel at DM or defense, it helps to be good at game reading. Again, if you watch soccer games, this shouldn't be too hard as you can pick up on player's idiosyncrasies quickly.

So this school footie you played didn't expose you to these basics of the game?

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"The young Walt Disney was sacked because he lacked imagination. They advised Marilyn Monroe to become a secretary and Elvis to go back to driving a lorry."

I stopped playing football essentially when I came to Australia.

I can count the number of times I have played in team setups on my finger.

so it is not that I didn't learn anything, but I haven't been playing.

And when I mean, I haven't been playing, I mean I haven't been playing. I have probably played about 6 times in the past 12 years. The thing is seeing the game and actually being in the space are COMPLETELY different. I know if I stayed the course and signed up with these chaps, I would be able to read the game better, but I want to work on a few things first.

I have been practising however, individually in the past 2 or so years...but that is individual play. The other thing which I mentioned before is, when I did play back in the day, I was an individual player. I created chances on my own and scored them on my own. Street soccer in tight spaces instilled that in me. So for me, the idea of being a team player is just something I have never put to practice.

Regarding what I do know, a lot of what I do know about the game, gets thrown out of the window, when I can barely keep up. I spent half of the game just trying to catch a breath. So I wasn't even trying to read the game, in all honesty. I think the most important thing for me to work on is cardio.

I don't want to play DM, I just slotted in there today to avoid running (didn't work out so well, because my midfield partners did not cover) I would like to play as striker or on the wing, but I need to get my lungs back. I will do some research on this.

TBH objectively I would give myself a 4/10 rating

but due to the circumstances, I actually played much better than I could have hoped for.

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Bixente Lizarazu once described Spain’s football - which won them two European titles and a World Cup - as “love without the sex. It lacks a bit of spice”. News.com.au

What exactly do you do when you play by yourself?

I would work on cardio and strength work (core, groin and diagonal stuff) by myself then play the game with partners.
Take it easy though. If you rush it, you will risk injury. Avoid treadmills if you can.

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"The young Walt Disney was sacked because he lacked imagination. They advised Marilyn Monroe to become a secretary and Elvis to go back to driving a lorry."

We need a video, what your head interpreted may not be what people may have observed with their eyed

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SuperEagles

@BP: Are you still playing active? The All-Nigeria soccer tournament is coming to Houston this year. October 5 - 8. How is your HOuston team this year?

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A Person convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.

I have retired

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SuperEagles

No, stick to your day job.

I will see if I can film am.

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Bixente Lizarazu once described Spain’s football - which won them two European titles and a World Cup - as “love without the sex. It lacks a bit of spice”. News.com.au

I work on shooting, my left leg (weak foot) is even better than my strong foot (right).

Which is why I always laugh when footballers say they have a weak foot. ANYBODY can develop their weak foot. A pro with a bad foot is just lazy.

I have also been working on close control/dribbling. I am trying to get back to my days when nobody could get the ball off my feet. Getting the ball taken off me as many times as I did in the last game would never happen in my prime. I think all those years I stopped playing in Aus messed up my game severely.

but I think talent is like riding a bicycle, you can't lose it...and I will get it back.

These bobos want quite bit of money for insurance etc. I think I will pay them, as long as there are enough games left.

As far as health goes, luckily I had a reasonable game. I was afraid of my right leg which seems to have a circulation problem (I think sitting down at my desk for too long without moving), fortunately it wasn't a problem in the game....only issue was my left foot which seemed to be stretching late in the game. Had a little knock from some wastepipe, but nothing major. Feel some stretching near the hip, but no damage.

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Bixente Lizarazu once described Spain’s football - which won them two European titles and a World Cup - as “love without the sex. It lacks a bit of spice”. News.com.au

Tbite

Bros, going out there to play is a WIN. Keep fit and keep working but remember it is now all about fitness as you are not seeking a pro contract. Depending on how old you are, some things will never come back.

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The difficulties of statistical thinking describes a puzzling limitation of our mind: our excessive confidence in what we believe we know, and our apparent inability to acknowledge the full extent of our ignorance and the uncertainty of the world we live in. We are prone to overestimate how much we understand about the world and to underestimate the role of chance in events -- Daniel Kahneman (2011), Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics

That is what little blue pills are there for.

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Bixente Lizarazu once described Spain’s football - which won them two European titles and a World Cup - as “love without the sex. It lacks a bit of spice”. News.com.au

Tbite, have you another game since this one? The more you play your nerves will calm and you will get into a good groove with confidence about your play. Just gotta stick with it.

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Super Eagus 4 Life!